At the time I was almost certain that this lot were destined for great things. I mean, they had it all; great debut album, smashing follow up loaded to the brim with excellent songs, unrivalled musicianship, and, performances with soul. So what happened? Well, it looks like the great would-be-gods Dragonhammer vanished from the face of the Earth, leaving only the remains of their talent behind, which we can luckily all sample here, on their monstrous sophomore effort, Time For Expiation.

Again, like I've mentioned so many times before — hopefully you'll be catching on by now — Dragonhammer, fundamentally being a part of the Italian Prog-Power metal scene, base their sound on the Labyrinth blueprint, that being strong emphasis on speed, keyboards, and more sugar-coated melodies than you can shake a teen pop idol at. With Time For Expiation, Dragonhammer joined the esteemed ranks of those who tried to take this sound further, giving more prominence to the progressive side of the genre, modeled by bands such as Arachnes, Odyssea, and, naturally, the great Vision Divine. While vocalist/guitarist Max Aguzzi is the star of the show with his gruff but sonorous wail and crushing riffing, the highlight of Dragonhammer's music is undoubtedly doubled by the supreme skill of keyboarder Alex Valdambrini, as without his stunning contribution, tracks like "Eternal Sinner", "Free Land", and the unbelievably catchy "Fear of a Child" would be merely clichéd Power Metal standards. Saying that, due to this ingenious partnership, there isn't a single track unworthy of attention here, and despite their inability to resurface and expand on what could have been a glorious career, Time For Expiation remains a charging tome of intelligent Progressive Power Metal that, in spite of its title, shows anything but a band in need of punishment.